Last Respects
"Welcome to the House of Curios, where a cursed monkey paw can grant wishes. Wait, don't wish for that!" : -- DVD description for the episode ---- Cast *Emma Samms ... Yvonne *Kerry Fox ... Dolores *Julie Cox ... Marlys *Michael Denison ... Richard *Dulcie Gray ... Mrs. Wilder *Peter Waddington ... Basil *Molly Weir ... Grandma Oakfist *John Kassir ... Crypt Keeper (voice) Plot The story opens at what seems to be an old couple's home. An older woman is walking around the property looking a bit ragged & scared. When in the yard, an older man; her husband, comes up behind her and startles her making her scream. He tells her not to worry, that the dogs have him now and they cannot hurt her. She asks if he has 'it', meaning the paw. She wants to make one last wish just to make things right. He explains the third wish must go unused. Suddenly their two dogs come in through the gate and start barking at them fiercely. This distracts the old man who is carrying the paw which gives his wife a chance to grab it from him. She wishes for the paw to go to somebody who really deserves it, but as her husband explains for that to work they would have to -- he gets cut off by the ferociously barking dogs who are closing in on them. His last words are "We are free from the curse - forever." Cut to 'Mr. Finger's House of Curios', a rare antique shop owned by three sisters which was inherited from their father. Yvonne and her sister Dolores are cleaning the store while discussing options for making their store more popular. Dolores walks over to clean the dust off their dead father, who is in a glass coffin. Marlys then walks in with a big box of new items she bought at an estate sale for a deceased couple, asking the sisters for help. Marlys legally owns the shop herself, and when informed Yvonne thinks they should sell, they get into an argument which knocks down the box. Dolores finds and picks up a monkey's paw and looks at it curiously. She thinks it's a sign. Later that night, the three girls are sitting down for dinner with Yvonne's husband Basil and their grandmother Oakfist. They begin discussing where the story of the monkey's paw came from and whether or not it's true before grandma Oakfist interrupts them with 'Beware the paw - it's cursed'. Dolores thinks father sent them a helping hand from beyond the grave (referring to the paw), and he does not want them to sell the store. After dinner, Basil is asleep on the chair with a newspaper over his face while Dolores & Marlys are reading the inscription on the paw. It says '3 wishes I give and no more - to each owner of me so keep score - each wish will come true - so take care what you do' Yvonne is skeptical and tells them if she remembers correctly, the wishes made in the story always have a way of making a nasty turn. Yvonne simply says they will have to start smaller and not be so greedy. She wishes for a million pounds. Marlys panics and says they are as good as dead. Moments later, the phone rings and Yvonne answers. She hands the phone to Marlys who says she is scared, but it is father's lawyer calling for her. There was a package that was lost in the shipment for over 40 years that arrived to him. Inside were 3 waterford snake fountain pens - there are only 4 in the entire world and they now own three of them. At 250,000 pounds each. Marlys hangs up the phone and is getting ready to head over to the lawyer's office. Dolores & Yvonne don't trust her, so Yvonne goes with her. Marlys mentions that it might be a good idea to put the pens safely in her security deposit box which confuses the other two sisters, as they didn't know about the box. Once Yvonne & Marlys are at the lawyers, there is confusion. There are no pens, it was a misprint on the shipping. Marlys is breaking down crying, while Yvonne is arguing with the lawyer. Back at the House of Curios, the phone rings and Dolores answers, thinking it is one of her sisters. The other end of the line is not heard, but it is assumed to be the doctor's informing her that her sisters were involved in a car crash. She asks if they are both dead, then smiles. At the hospital, Yvonne is lying in a bed seemingly okay. When she hears Dolores coming in, she adjusts herself to make it seem like she is genuinely hurt. Yvonne asks if Marlys is dead, then explains that they were fighting on the way home because Marlys would not stop crying. Dolores informs Yvonne that the car went up in flames, and that the safety deposit box Marlys had was worth a million pounds. Yvonne begs Dolores to destroy the paw, but she doesn't think she can. After Yvonne is out of the hospital, she gives Dolores the Monkey's Paw book, but Dolores thinks she can beat the paw and bring Marlys back. Yvonne tells her that the woman in the book made the same mistake. She wished for her son to come back, but he comes to the door as he is - a rotting corpse. Later that night, Yvonne is talking on the phone to a doctor, presumably trying to get her sister committed by telling the doctor her sister is losing it. Suddenly Dolores runs down the stairs excitedly saying she knows what the second wish should be. She wishes for Marlys to be the way she was right before the accident. Seconds later, the phone rings and Yvonne is hesitant to answer. After she hangs up, she says it was the funeral home and they needed to see them right away. Yvonne started getting visibly worried and would not go. Dolores accuses her of hating her sister, and she goes alone. When at the funeral home, the mortician is talking to Dolores, who assumes she is alive. Marlys' corpse is dripping water and is soaking wet. The mortician informs Dolores that her sisters car did not catch on fire like she was told, she drove it into the lake. She then lifts up Marlys' hair to reveal a bullet hole in her neck, which the police detectives missed. Someone murdered Marlys. Back at Curios, Yvonne is packing jewelry and other valuables to take with her for money. Dolores comes in and accuses her sister of murdering Marlys because she told Yvonne about the insurance policy. Yvonne confesses and says she is justified, because she was tired of catering to their grandmother Oakfist and Basil every night. Yvonne then tells Dolores to give her the paw because she doesn't want her to use the wish against her. Dolores has already used the wish, she gave it away, saying she wished the last wish belonged to her sister. Yvonne thinks it is her and wishes for her sister to have her wish back. But Dolores didn't tell the paw which sister to give the wish to, and the paw gave the wish to Marlys. Suddenly, a large gust of wind opens the Curios doors and there stands Marlys, as she was - a rotting, soaking corpse. Marlys reaches her arms out to come after Yvonne, who points the gun at her and shoots. The bullets don't stop Marlys, who continues to slowly come after Yvonne, who is now backed into the closet. Dolores locks them in there together and then says into the door that Marlys' wish was to spend more time with Yvonne. Dolores then walks away happily. Opening Segment The Crypt Keeper is seen pulling human hearts out of a vase and says he is putting 'gross profits' away for safe keeping. He is wearing a suit with a dark red bow tie. Behind him is a glowing sign that says 'Crypt Keeper Financial Services'. He then shoves aside the heart vase to make room for his book to which he opens and begins the story. "Greetings infesters! I'll be with you in a moment. I was just putting these gross profits away for safekeeping. You see, boils and ghouls, at Crypt Keeper Financial, we can help you get morgue for your money. Whether it's mutual fiends you want or cold, horrid cash, we can guarantee you'll coroner the market. Hmm. I bet you'd be the type who's interested in boo chips, like tonight's tale. It's about three girls who are chopping around for a tax fright-off of their own in a nasty shock option I call "Last Respects." Closing Segment The Crypt Keeper is still wearing his white suit with a dark red bow tie. He states that Lavonne wanted to be rich but instead became another "paw girl". He tells the audience that the girls settled their differences and re-opened the store as "Ye Old Gore-iosity Shop". He was glad that the family business "gruesome". A man is seen with him, when CK states that he got in trouble with the "DIE-R.S." and pulls a knife out of his book and states that it's okay, because he's about to make a killing. He laughs his signature laugh and the man turns around to look at the camera with a scared face. "Shame about Yvonne. She wanted so badly to be rich, but ended up just another paw girl. Still, you'll be pleased to know, kiddies, that the girls settled their differences and reopened the store as Ye Olde Gore-iocity Shoppe. It's so nice to see a little family business that gruesome. As for me, I'm afraid a few of my investment strategies have got me into trouble with the Die-RS. Not to worry though, the joke's on him. I'm about to make a killing." Trivia *Freddie Francis previously directed the feature film Tales from the Crypt (1972), also based on the EC Comics series. Gallery Last-Respects-tales-from-the-crypt-40706605-1080-1587.jpg|Mike Vosburg's comic cover MV5BMTk5NTU3NTc2N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDEwMjU2MjE@._V1_.jpg Category:Season 7 Category:Tales from the Crypt Season 7 episodes Category:Episodes